Author Archives: Jeremy Lichtman

About Jeremy Lichtman

CEO of Lichtman Consulting. Formerly CTO of MIT Consulting. Serial entrepreneur, software and web developer.

Open peer-to-peer markets

Business Software Development 4 Comments

The following is a crude, first attempt to try and define a way for an online market to operate that is entirely decentralized (i.e. there is no central exchange).

In addition to describing some of the mechanisms that would allow such a market to operate, I am also calling for a) the establishment of a foundation or industry association to ensure that standards are created for the necessary systems, and b) the voluntary acceptance of some level of regulation (i.e. government) by the virtual market community. I’ll make cases for both below. Continue reading →

The three phases of the internet

Software Development Technology 4 Comments

Forget what some people are calling Web3.0.

The first phase of the internet involved taking real world information, and moving it into a digital, connected format – i.e. making web pages.

The second phase of the internet involved taking that newly minted digital stuff, and bringing humanity into the picture (i.e. web pages that are “social”).

The third phase of the internet will involve taking “stuff” that was originally digital, and making it “live” in the real world. All that mobile phone geo-location stuff is just a tiny (and honestly, not very interesting) part of that.

Addendum:

The fourth phase of the internet is already upon us as well, and interestingly enough its as much about hardware as software. This phase involves breaking the physical constraints of the internet and allowing it to work seamlessly through ad-hoc, peer-to-peer, wireless networks (i.e. there’s no ISP and no phone company involved, except maybe for the long lines). This also involves replacing TCP/IP with DTN – especially if humanity is going to do anything useful in the rest of the solar system.

Disintermediation!

Business 2 Comments

There’s nothing new about disintermediation – the removal of intermediaries in business. Its part of the age old battle between middlemen and those who wish to cut them out of the picture. The internet was supposed to cause disintermediation on a large scale, but all it did was redraw the battle lines a bit.

The reason I mention the word is because I’ve been brainstorming business models with a client lately, and we’ve come up with some doozies. Not the usual groceries direct stuff. I’m talking chunks of the financial industry. We’re willing to do coffee with interested parties…

Strategy for Facebook (Part 1)

Business Social Media No Comments

As Facebook gets closer to an IPO (and corporate maturity), we’re starting to get a clearer picture of where they are aiming, and what their actual competitive landscape looks like.

The recent (silly) spat with Google is an indication that they view the folks in Mountainview as their primary competitor, but there are also other, less visible tensions – for instance the difficult that they’re having in persuading app companies to adopt Facebook Credits. These are likely to come to the foreground as Facebook strives to increase its revenue (and profitability) once it goes public.

Continue reading →